Ankara to return EP report on Turkey: Turkish EU Minister

Ankara will return the European Parliament (EP) report on Turkey, the European Union affairs minister said, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

“We don’t accept the report and will return it,” Volkan Bozkır told reporters on June 10.

The Foreign Ministry also stated that the EP reports is one of the most “unfortunate” decisions taken by the body.

“The EP report is merely additions to the progress reports by the European Commission. What was lacking in the progressive report was added to the EP report,” he said.

A reference to a previous EP resolution on the “events of 1915” was added to EP’s Turkey Progress Report at the last minute, the minister said.

“On the grounds of this reference, we find this report unacceptable. It will be returned back to EP by our Permanent Rep to the EU in Brussels,” he stated.

Turkey has never accepted and will never accept that the events of 1915 be named as genocide, which has no legal and historical base, said Bozkır.

“The EP proved it has no broad vision. It does not help to bring Turkey and the EU closer,” Bozkır said, adding that “fortunately” the EP doesn’t speak on behalf of the EU.

“The EP’s report on Turkey does not reflect the real situation in Turkey-EU relations,” he said.